Happy Birthday, Teddy
by MuggleBeene
Summary: Victoire Lupin has plans to give her husband a surprise birthday supper, but a combination of siblings and cousins doesn't make that easy. One-shot, related to the story 'Loss and Gain' as well as slight connections to the Professor Muggle story series.


**Happy Birthday, Teddy**

_**A/N: References to certain characters are from the Professor Muggle series of stories. This story also is related to the Victoire and Teddy story entitled 'Loss and Gain.' This story was written for Nymphadora Bellamort Weasley's 'Victoire/Teddy Next Top Writer' challenge.**_

_19 April, 2025_

"It's that bloody rotter Jack's fault." Louis Weasley glared at his cousin across the kitchen table. "You should know how he is with women. Plus, Professor Greene's son, can do no wrong. Hogwarts royalty."

Lucy Weasley shook her blonde head. "You're daft, Louis. I broke up with him. He didn't do anything wrong. And so what if he's Cho Greene's son? That doesn't make him _royalty_ for Merlin's sake."

The argument continued to escalate, both combatants eventually finding new and lower ways to insult the other one, until finally Victoire couldn't take it any longer. She stood up, somewhat unsteadily due to her growing belly, and sat her knitting down on the sofa. "Enough! Both of you, quiet."

The two cousins obviously hadn't heard as they continued to bicker. Finally Lucy picked up her glass of pumpkin juice and threw it in Louis's face, galvanizing Victoire to action. She took out her wand and cast silencing charms on the two of them. They continued to shout at each other for a second before the realization of their current situation became obvious. As they turned to Victoire she gave them a stern look.

"We're _supposed_ to be getting ready for Teddy's birthday. If it wasn't Easter Holiday you two wouldn't even be here, and if this is how you act at Hogwarts…" She shook her head, causing some of her silvery-blonde hair to fall out of the messy ponytail she'd put it in earlier that morning, and fixed her gaze on her sister Dominique, who sat on a chair reading _The Daily Prophet_ as if nothing had been happening whatsoever in the kitchen. "And you, you remember what Mum said, you're supposed to help since I'm…"

Dominique rolled her eyes before lowering the paper. "Right, I'm supposed to help with the animals since you're all pregnant and stuff." Her tone was flat, monotone and somewhat irritated. She pointed to her mute cousins at the table. "But not those animals. I'm not a miracle worker."

After taking a look around the farmhouse, wanting _some place _quiet, Vic had reached her boiling point. She stuck her wand behind her ear, semi-waddled over to the door and roughly shoved her feet into a pair of green Wellies. "I'm going to see the sheep." She whistled and a black and white dog soon was at her feet. "Come, Whip, we're going for a walk."

As soon as the door closed, Dominique just shook her head at Louis and Lucy, picked up the paper, and returned to the Quidditch scores. It wasn't more than a few seconds later she heard Louis's voice.

"Um, Dom, you can fix Lucy?"

Dom flipped the top half of the paper down. "You're of age, you do it. She's fifteen." She paused for a moment and then smirked. "No, let her do it. Uncle Percy would go mental if she had an underage magic charge on her record." After resuming her reading once again Dom was interrupted, as the paper was roughly snatched away from her, revealing Lucy, looked as mad as a wet hen. "Oh, all right."

-ooo-

Teddy Lupin was proud of himself and his wife. As he sat on the hill above his farm, surveying everything, he also realized that he was feeling very, very happy. After two miscarriages Victoire was pregnant and due with their first child in a little over a month. Their farm had been producing very good magical crops due to Neville Longbottom's suggestions and guidance, and the sheep produced enough wool to keep up with Molly Weasley's expanded Christmas jumper production and have plenty left over to sell. It had been rough those first few years, and several times he had wondered if Vic's decision to quit the Department of International Magical Relations at the Ministry had been the right one, but after four years he didn't question it any longer. And now, with the news he had to tell Vic? Things were wonderful.

As he sat and watched the smoke curl up out of the little chimney on the farmhouse Ted's emotions would had been obvious to anyone if they had been there, as his hair turned a bright, silvery-shade of blue. Instead, only birds rapidly flew overhead from the direction of the house, and as he turned his eyes to see what the cause was it was easily apparent; Vic was walking towards the pasture. It took a moment but Ted's brow became furrowed, as she was under Healer's orders not to be very active, and his curiosity turned quickly into fear. Quickly shoving a piece of parchment into his Auror's robes he turned on the spot and quickly Disapparated.

-ooo-

The crack of Apparition made Victoire freeze. Hastily removing her wand from behind her ear she started scanning the grounds, as nobody should have been able to make it past their wards. Their wards were some of the safest imaginable; after all, her father and her uncles Harry and Ron had done them personally. Whip's low growl focused her attention, and she saw Teddy striding forward, a concerned look on his face.

"Stop right there." She leveled her wand at him. "What's Teddy Lupin's first choice for a girl name?"

Teddy held up empty hands level with his head. "Nymphadora, but we'll call her Dorrie for short. Everyone said my mum hated that name."

Vic lowered her wand and exhaled sharply. Once Ted came over to her she hit him on the arm. "Don't _do_ that."

He laughed. "Sorry, love. Harry sent me home early, but never mind that. What in Merlin's name are you doing out here? I thought your Mum sent Dom over to help out."

"She's useless." Vic rolled her eyes. "Worse than that, actually. Well, she did feed the chickens and the cows, but Louis and Molly started fighting because Lucy broke up with her boyfriend and then started defending him…"

"Wait a tic." Teddy angled his head. "Your brother and Lucy are here? Vic?"

Victoire's shoulders slumped. "I was going to throw you a little birthday dinner, nothing much, I know you told me not to, but those two…"

Teddy laughed. "Oil and water, Slytherin and Gryffindor, I know. Come on; let's get you back into the house."

As they walked back to the house, hand in hand and avoiding Whip, who seemed determined to get in their way, Vic looked over to her husband. "Why did Harry send you home early? You're not in trouble, are you?"

Teddy beamed as he shook his head. "Trouble? Oh no, far from it. Promoted, actually. You're looking at the new Head of Surveillance."

Vic stopped and put her arms around him, which was a little difficult because of her belly. "Teddy, that's wonderful!"

He kissed her softly. "Yeah, and more Galleons too. We can finally put in that extra plot of dittany. Or add enough bedrooms for six kids." He watched her eyebrows rise and kissed her again. "I'm kidding, three bedrooms would be fine. Come on; let's get the two of you inside before the Healers have my hide."

-ooo-

As they entered the farmhouse Teddy quickly took in the scene. Lucy, fifteen going on twenty, sat with her legs crossed in a living room chair, her blonde hair a divider to keep out everyone as she bent over a book. Louis, in his last year at Hogwarts, sat in the chair the furthest from Lucy, making smoke rings with his wand. Between them, on the sofa, sat Dominique, ignoring everything with her feet up on the ottoman and engrossed in the paper.

The opening of the door and Whip's entrance into the house roused all of the occupants in the room from their activities. Lucy put a bookmark in her book and flipped her hair over her shoulders, Louis sat up quickly and Dom folded down her paper.

"Well so much for that surprise. Happy Birthday, Teddy." Dom sat the paper down and looked at her watch. "You're shift's not up yet, is it?"

Ted closed the door and shook his head. "No, let off for good behaviour, unlike what I've heard about." He looked pointedly at Louis. "Really, Lou? Again?"

"He was being a complete prat, Teddy." Lucy sat her book aside and uncrossed her legs. "I mean, I broke up with Jack, it just wasn't working, and that total arse over there starts telling me that…"

Teddy waved her off. "Oh no, no, no, no, no. I'm not getting in the middle of that. I mean, I remember Hogwarts romances, it's never easy." Vic elbowed him in the ribs. "Ok, ok, I get it. Besides, if you want advice on dating you should ask Dom. I mean really, Dom, how many did you burn through? Ten? Twenty? Lucy, ask her what she said when Roddy Tomble chucked her."

Every eye turned to Dominique, who had begun to turn a shade of red. "Low blow, Ted."

Lucy turned to her older cousin. "What'd you say, Dom?"

Dom mumbled something and picked up her paper again. Her attempt at avoidance didn't work, as Louis walked over and ripped the paper out of her hands.

"Come on, sis, I haven't even heard this story."

Dominique glared at Victoire. "That's because I _thought_ it was private." She tried to take the paper back from Louis, but he kept a hold of it which resulted in the paper becoming ripped in to two pieces. "Oh well done, Lou. So mature. You're such a Slytherin."

Louis wadded the paper up and threw it at his sister. "Leave my house out of it, what'd you say?"

At that point Dom had had enough. She stood up, walked to the door and roughly pulled it open. She started to leave, but instead she turned back. "When she…" Dominique pointed at her sister "…asked me what happened I said HE RIPPED MY HEART OUT! There? Satisfied?" With a rude gesture at her brother she walked out, slamming the door.

"Well, at least we know she had a heart at one time, then." Louis crossed his arms and laughed quietly.

Teddy picked up the wadded-up piece of the newspaper, walked into the kitchen and tossed it in the rubbish bin. He took three deep, calming breaths and looked over to Louis. "Go wind her down before she does something. Last time she was this mental I had to replace a good ten meters of fence." He looked at his brother-in-law with a manner that he usually reserved for interrogation suspects. "Sometime today?"

-ooo-

Victoire levitated the kettle over to the table and sat it closest to Teddy. He took the kettle and poured the water, and while the tea was steeping he looked over to Lucy. She was still embarrassed about the giant fiasco with Louis, on what Ted guessed were a couple of levels. For one, she was ashamed that she'd fallen into the same trap she always did with Louis, the one of bickering and picking at each other. It had always been that way with the two of them, even when they were younger. More than that, though, she was mortified that the blow-up had been over her ex-boyfriend while planning Ted's birthday party. He glanced over to Vic, as if for a cue that it was the right time to say something, but she subtly shook her head. Finally, after it seemed like a silent eternity, Vic poured the tea for Ted and Lucy.

After adding the milk a stirring he looked over once again to Vic and she nodded. Ted cleared his throat, took a sip, and then caught Lucy's eye. "It's all right, you know. Breakups happen to everybody."

Lucy shrugged. "I know, it's…I broke up with him. Why does Louis have to be so nasty?"

"Because he's Louis." Vic sat back in her chair and sipped her tea. "Ugh, I absolutely despise this decaffeinated, herbal stuff. Tastes horrid."

"Just for a little longer, love." Ted patted Victoire's knee. "So what happened, Luce? I gather you chucked him?"

"Yes." Lucy's voice was quiet and small. "It just wasn't working out. He…he was so jealous. I mean, if I even talked to another boy he went mental. John Flampkick and I were working on our Transfiguration assignment, you know, the team research things, and we were in the library when Jack walked in and just blew up. I wasn't _doing_ anything wrong."

Ted winced as Victoire put her hand on Lucy's arm. "No, sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong at all. Ask Ted what happens to jealous boyfriends."

Lucy looked over to Teddy, who looked as if he'd swallowed something rather nasty. He took a sip of tea, winked at Vic, and leaned forward, putting his hand under his chin. "Well, Luce, let's just say I know where Jack's coming from. You see, um, same thing happened to me. I got chucked."

"You certainly did." Victoire chuckled. "And you deserved it."

"Oh my Merlin!" Lucy's eyes went wide. "I didn't know you two ever broke up? When was that?"

"My seventh year." Ted scrunched his nose and ran a hand through his hair, which had turned a deep purple. "I kind of lost my head. You're in Muggle Studies, so you know how Professor Muggle has the party every year towards the end of classes out at his place, the one for Muggle Club…well, we were out there and I saw her dancing with Angus McDubh."

Molly held up her hands. "Wait, Dom's boyfriend?"

Ted rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, but he wasn't her boyfriend then, he was a scrawny little fourth year git but that's not important. Point is I was a complete, uh…"

"He was a complete and utter idiot." Victoire smiled at Ted and turned to Lucy. "He told me that I was his girl and he wouldn't have me dancing with other boys in front of everyone. I told him that he couldn't tell me what to do and to go get stuffed."

"That's what I told Jack!" Lucy sat her teacup down hurriedly, spilling a small amount into the saucer. "I told him he didn't own me, that it didn't matter that he was wonderful when we were alone, that he had to be the same everyplace else." She looked over and saw Victoire rubbing her belly. "So you two obviously made up. How'd that happen?"

Victoire took pity on her husband, as she saw him give her an anxious look. "Well, that's a story for another time. But maybe this time apart will remind him of what he's lost. Besides the jealousy, is there anything else you can tell us?"

Lucy pursed her lips and looked at her teacup, making a pointed effort to avoid Victoire's eyes.

"Lucy?" Victoire gave her a questioning glance. "Is there more to it?"

"Well…I _might_ have snogged Ian Hopwort before we left for holiday and agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him next time."

"Merlin. Girls." Ted shook his head, then leaned down and spoke to Vic's belly. "I hope you're a boy, don't know if I'm ready to deal with this, OW!"

Victoire held a handful of Teddy's hair. "Ignore him. So you're happy about the way things turned out, then?" As Lucy nodded Victoire let go of her husband's hair. "Don't worry, Lucy, things turn out they way they're supposed to in the end."

Lucy popped up from her seat and gave her cousin a small hug. "Thanks, Vic. Sorry about rowing with Louis. I should probably go find him and apologize. Thanks!"

After she left Teddy rubbed his head. "What about me? I helped too, right?"

"Of course you did, love. See what we get to look forward to? You know how it is, Dad's give the advice, Mum's get the credit. Isn't that always what you said about Harry and Ginny? Of course, if you want extra points you could go tell her what you did to get back in my good graces." She patted her belly and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "On second thought, save that one for our children. Happy Birthday, Teddy."


End file.
